


Why have an apocalypse when you could have a dance

by hi_short_for_hello



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Blood and Gore, Dave still dies but he's still here, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Ghost Dave (Umbrella Academy), Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, He fought in a war y'all, He kills for his family, Klaus and Ben like to dance, Klaus is ruthless, Klaus knows how to shoot, Luther Hargreeves Being an Asshole, M/M, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, There is a pillow fort, They like to make fun of it, Vanya and Klaus watch bad TV, and likes to cuddle, powerful klaus, they eat lots of waffles, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 22:15:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20241241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hi_short_for_hello/pseuds/hi_short_for_hello
Summary: Klaus knew no one would notice his absence, but the war gave him time to think. 'I should really show Vanya how much I love her'. When he got back, he did. This is how a little familial love saves the day.It's better than the summery, I swear





	Why have an apocalypse when you could have a dance

Klaus shivered and curled even tighter around himself. It had been ten months of hell, ten months of war and death and sobriety and trying to figure out who was dead and who was still standing. He had become one of the best shots that the 173rd had ever had, able to shot with pin-point accuracy, mowing down anyone who ever tried to hurt his new family. Ten months of pain and more laughter in a war zone than he had ever had in the Academy. Ten months and he had found love, found a way to deal with the ghosts that didn't revolve around injecting his bloodstream with enough drugs to kill Luther. Klaus wasn't stupid, he knew what the drugs were doing to his body. He also knew that the only one who cared was Ben, Vanya might but he couldn't tell. At least the people here cared enough to hold his hair back when he threw up during withdrawal. Ten months of care came crashing down when he saw the wartorn body of Dave bleed out in his hands. Ten months of love and he had to leave or he would just walk into oncoming enemy fire.

Ten months turned out to be less than a day. He was lucky that his body came back the same as it had been when he left, clean and with new muscle packed into his lithe frame. He walked home numb to the world, not caring about anything other than the dog tags around his neck and the blood smeared his body. 

Nobody had noticed he was gone. He left as they yelled at him, it came as morbid humor that he was used to this kind of treatment. He had lived with these kinds of comments on his whole life. Before anyone had believed that he could talk to the dead they thought he was insane, they never heard him scream as he was dragged to the godforsaken crypt, they thought he lied or made up the abuse he suffered under the head of the house. He learned before he could walk that what dear old Dad did wasn't love. The ghosts had been kind before they started to scream endlessly, taught him new languages and about the world, told him more accurate history than what his books said, told him that the fact that he didn't have a name was not normal. He grew out of his delusional love for Reginald before it could even take hold. There had been this one ghost, Violetta, who had been a mother to him before Grace came. She had died peacefully in her sleep. Alexander had been stabbed but he taught Klaus to fight before training ever began. Before the mausoleum, there had been few Screamers, the ones who lost too much of themselves and became wraith-like, long and spindly with screeches that could last for weeks. Before, there had been more like what Ben would one day be, people just trying to help a small child that could hear him. He missed those. 

He threw out the rest of his drugs, he was clean but ten months couldn't erase more than 13 years of habit, better to throw it out before he wanted it. So around the house, he went, pulling up floorboards and opening books to the cutout hole where a baggie lay. Down the drain and out of mind before the sun had set. He talked to Ben, told him what had happened and told him the stories of the family he had made in the A Shau Valley. He meditated and got bored. Getting out of his room would mean that he had to see his family and that sounded terrible. Having nothing else to do he worked out, he never wanted to have another Hazel and Cha-Cha experience and it was a habit to need to be in shape at this point. The war had drilled the need to always be ready to help. So he did pushups on the floor and pullups on the door frame and anything else he could think of doing without real equipment. 

Luther wasn't the only one who had a record player, it was lucky that Klaus had never tried to pawn his off because he didn't trust headphones right now. It was never silent when ghosts followed you around but he didn't want to only hear the wails of despair that had become white noise in recent months.

Eventually, his body screamed at him to stop, had been for a while, and he finally did. Sweat dripped from his hair as he walked downstairs to get water. He slipped into the kitchen silently, his loud body language subdued after ten months of having to walk as quietly as possible. He grabbed a cup from the cabinet as he chatted softly with his brother and one of the more peaceful ghosts in the kitchen. Seemingly dancing over to the water, nothing could ever get rid of his oddly graceful movement and how he seemed to dance more than walk. Even when he couldn't walk in a straight line he seemed to move with more grace than any other person around him. He swayed around the kitchen to a song only he could hear as he spun and twirled. He finished filling the glass and proceeded to sip at it greedily. When he finished he refilled it, repeating this pattern two or three times before he set the cup down on the counter. He danced out of the room, humming a tune Dave had sung to calm him down. If anyone were watching they would say that Klaus seemed to slink up the stairs again, like one of the shadows that haunted him.

He walked to the bathroom before freezing. The idea of a bath made him want to puke but showers had always seemed too quick, too clinical. A sigh like a dying man's last breath left him before he turned the shower on. Although he had always been flamboyant, Klaus knew that the constant presence of ghosts changed him. His body was never warm and when he was sober his smile took on a sharper edge. People seemed unsettled more easily by him when he was sober. A feeling of something being off plaguing them until they left him alone. These thoughts ran inside his head as he cleaned off. 

His shower was quick, in and out. Mostly used to get blood and sweat and dirt off and not for enjoying getting clean as he usually did. He got out and dried off before making his way back to his room.

Even when he didn't live here, he kept a lot of stuff here. His wardrobe was one of the only things he kept stocked in this room. It was chock full of flowy skirts and tight pants, garish shirts and black band tees alike. He felt like dancing so he chose one of his wine red skirts that he knew made a good twirl flare and a black crop top. Moving over to his vanity, he applied his eyeliner and mascara along with a matte lip that was the same shade of red as his skirt. Leaving his feet bare he twirled in the mirror before flowing like liquid downstairs again. He was glad that the huge house had a ballroom, it had been used as a secondary training room at one point in time but has since been put back into order for a dance. Grinning he turned to his brother.

"Care to dance, brother dearest?" He asked, holding a hand out. A faint blue mist encased it as Ben let his hand drop into his brothers. The girl from earlier, Sophie was her name and she had died by drowning, left to find the music and turned it on. Klaus's powers letting her be corporal for long enough to do so before she faded from the physical plane.

When Ben had been alive they had stayed up late into the night learning different types of dance. Thanks to the dead dancers they had found a way to calm both of them. The dances helped Ben calm his anxiety over the Horror and it had been a balm to the lonely feeling that Klaus often felt. By the time Ben had to meet an early grave, they had figured out how to switch between at least five different types of ballroom dance all in the same song in dance as fluid as all of Klaus's movements. They fell back into the routine easily. Start with a waltz, move to tango, switch to a jive, foxtrot here, some odd ballet there, rinse repeat. Laughter filled the air as Ben took the lead of the dances and they twirled and spun and moved as if they had been doing this dance for the 13 years they hadn't touched.

The family walked to the ballroom, laughter was so rare to hear, to be met with a blur of red and blue and black as the two moved with the grace of professionals around the room. Nobody moved as they watched Ben twirl before he  _ picked _ _ Klaus up_ and into a lift before he shrieked out a delighted sound as he was set down again and they continued to move around the room. If Klaus had realized they were there he didn't show it. He just kept dancing, leaving a blue mist trail as he moved that lingered for a few seconds before fading away.

"Ben?" One of the people standing in the doorway asked, to this day they don't know who said it.

The music ended as Klaus was spun with his head tossed back and a laugh bubbled out of his chest. One day he would teach Dave's ghost to do this. He loved Ben but not in the way Luther loved Allison, to gross. The two slowly turned to the audience they had, alive and dead. Delight still carved into their features as mirth danced as bright as a campfire in both of their eyes.

"Yes?" Ben finally answered the question.

"You- Your here," Diego stated.

"Thank you Captain Obvious, it would be quite hard to dance with my favorite brother if I couldn't touch him," Thirteen years of not having to hold back his snark had kinda killed Ben's filter and it was clear to those in the room. 

"How? I thought Klaus couldn't summon anyone while he was high?" Luther, the fucker, asked.

"I remember you being smarter, One," Oh no, everyone knew that the family using numbers and not names meant they were royally pissed at you. Everyone took a step back, Ben had never,  _ never _ , used their numbers. Not once they had gotten names. They were in deep shit. More specifically,  _ Luther _ was in  _ deep shit _ . By this point, Ben had moved so that his blue form stood in front of Klaus's figure. Protective when faced with a threat to Klaus. Five's eyes narrowed, he hadn't moved until Luther talked. What had Luther done?

"What? He's always high, why wouldn't he be high now?" The rest of the family seemed torn between agreeing and realizing that Luther was an asshole and an idiot.

"He's been sober for months, well for you it was less than a day but whatever."

"What do you mean," Five asked, he knew something seemed different. Klaus was quieter, had dog tags, a new tattoo and seemed to have actual mass. Klaus sighed, he put a hand on Ben's arm. They seemed to have an entire conversation before Ben nodded and let Klaus step a little to the side of him.

"When Hazel and Cha-Cha came to the house looking for Five they found me getting out of a bath with headphones on. They kidnapped me, interrogated me on Five. Don't worry, they don't know anything. I either didn't know the answer or didn't feel like telling. They learned about the lab but I didn't know more than that. After at least a day of torture and a forced withdrawal, Deigo's cop friend found me. I tried to warn her that there were two of them but I was still gagged. Once she cut me free, I climbed through the vents and stole the briefcase that was in the vent as I left. When I opened it I was transported to Vietnam in 1968 where I fought for ten months, fell in love, stayed sober, saw the love of my life die in my arms and learned to shoot a gun better than Diego. When I opened the case again I was back just a few hours after I had left. After that, I came home," Klaus said, his eyes distant as he remembered the horrors he had lived through in the past year. Ben gave him a side hug to offer support. A shuddery sigh later he continued, "The worst part is I  _ knew _ that you wouldn't notice I'd been taken. That those monsters could keep waterboarding and choking me and you wouldn't notice. The fact that I knew you wouldn't come and endured hours of screaming and seeing the ghosts show up without giving up any important information they didn't already know makes it so much worse. Then I came here, knowing you would never know if I didn't tell you. I surprised myself by coming back when I knew that if the nice lady hadn't shown up I would most likely be dead and you would all expect that I was out overdosing or something." His voice was monotone but Five, Vanya and Ben knew it was only to hide tears and keep the peace.

A choked sob escaped Allison as she stared at her brother.  _ He was right _ . They didn't notice and the first thought any of them had when he came in was that he had left them to fight while getting high.

"Why should we believe you, you could've just gotten so high you thought your junkie friends were Hazel and Cha-Cha and dreamed of Vietnam. Why would you ever stop being a liar and a thief?" Luther accused. Everyone turned to look at him. Allison was about to say something when there was a flash of blue and Luther reeled back from the punch Ben had just delivered.

"Your such an  _ asshole, _ One. Klaus is sober, if me not being here doesn't prove that then how about the fact that after being attached at the hip to him for thirteen years I know how he looks under most drugs, a catalog of how he acts high on weed or heroin. He's clean. I know that look, clear eyes and graceful movements that don't stager to much. Laughing, genuine laughter. He hasn't genuinely laughed in your presence in decades. Do you know  _ why _ he does drugs as much as he does? Have you ever even thought to ask before you became so judgmental you decided everything Klaus says was fake?" Ben was towering over Luther, even with the height difference that made him so much shorter he took up more room. He was angry and wasn't about to back down.

"To get out of training." Everyone stared. How had they never noticed that Luther was so cruel and demeaning to one of the only family members who had ever tried to lessen the tension in a room? 

"You know his power is seeing the dead. Think about what that entails, really think. What would you do when you feel ignored by everyone and then realize that someone can hear you? You scream and because they are dead they don't have to stop for things like air or a sore throat. So imagine that you are constantly being yelled at, by both living and dead. Every time you flinch or react is one of your family yelling at you and the dead _ never stop screaming _ . You figure out that if you get drunk or high it muffles the ghosts, numbs you to the effects of your power. Then you are yelled at for being high or drunk, but at least only a handful of screams. Imagine being scared of your powers and your father's idea of help is to  _ lock you in a mausoleum for hours or days _ . So yeah, your an ass for never thinking about why any of this happened and for never listening to your brother."

By this point, Luther looked cowed but still seemed to think the whole thing was Klaus's fault.

"Well if he wasn't so scared of his powers then he wouldn't have been locked up."

" _ Listen to yourself _ . No victim-blaming. Try to sit still while the person who is wearing their intestines as a scarf is grinning from the corner. Try not to shout when the guy who's missing half a skull is suddenly yelling in your face. Try not to cry when a small child shows you the bruises they got from their dad before he drowned them. Try not to get scared when you are surrounded by corpses who bleed on the floor or try to walk in a straight when ghosts bleed and wail in your path. Why do you try to excuse our abusive father?" Ben seemed both angry, concerned and highly resigned about this argument.

"He wasn't abusive!" Was Luther's shout of indignation. Klaus had been quiet up until now, knowing that Ben had thirteen years of pent up anger over Klaus's situation and the fact that no one helped more than to tell him to get sober.

"Luther, I know it's hard to accept. When I was younger there were fewer Screamers and most just talked to me. They told me that what was happening wasn't right. That not having a name isn't right or the fact that he only ever talked to us except to yell during training wasn't how fathers were supposed to act. Part of why I was a rebel from such a young age was because I learned that something was wrong long before anyone else did. I get that you don't want to come to terms with the fact that our dad cared more about our powers than us or that we were just lab experiments to him. I get it, but you need to realize that he didn't care. If he cared he wouldn't have made Five do jumps until he passed out. He wouldn't have made Allison rumor until she couldn't talk for days, or make Diego aim farther or smaller until he couldn't see properly, or force Ben to let out the Horror and force him to fight with it, or lock me up in a crypt or make you carry cars or hundreds of pounds for hours at a time. He didn't care about us past what made us different." He had stayed so that Ben was still in-between them, both made sure that Klaus was protected from the highly volatile strong man. The others had all gotten poised to rush to help Klaus if needed. Klaus had kept his tone soft but clear. Honest while trying not to enrage Luther more.

Luther looked like he didn't want to agree but had no argument other than one he knew wouldn't work. Still, he tried.

"But he was our dad."

"I've seen more children hurt by parents and parents that hurt their child than I ever knew could exist. Parents are supposed to care for you but he didn't, he also bought us because our moms hadn't been pregnant earlier that morning." Klaus said in the same soft voice. Vanya was reminded of a younger Klaus, one who had complimented her playing and held her siblings when they needed. One who had always had a kind touch and a soft joke to cheer up any of her siblings. She remembered her father finding him when he had snuck into her room to listen to her play. She remembers not seeing him for days and after that, he seemed to shy away from everything around them. He still snuck into her room but less frequently and he always left quickly with one more 'you sound beautiful, Van' as he slipped out.

Luther seemed to deflate at his words but still looked like he believed that Reginald had done what he thought was best.

"Where'd you learn to dance like that?" Vanya asked.

"When I was younger some ballet dancers taught me, they had burned from the stage lights and then other dancers started to come forward. When I was being taught partner dance I asked Ben to help, it helped calm down the Horror so we learned together. Ghosts used to teach me, I was someone who could listen to what they had to say and what they had lived. By the time I started doing drugs I knew German, English, Spanish, ASL, and Mandarin. There were more languages I learned but I used German, ASL, and English the most. They told me their life story and about the world that they had left and in exchange, I asked them to teach me their language and customs. Ghosts taught me more than Reginald ever did."

The rest of the family, sans Ben, seemed to be having trouble absorbing that fact. Klaus, never one for a lull in a conversation changed that.

"Play for me, Van?"

"I-what. Why would you want to hear me play?"

"It sounds nice, I haven't heard it in a while, I missed it, it keeps the angrier ghosts away for a while, I can bond with my awesome sister, it took me almost fourteen years to realize I loved it so much, your a good player, I heard you have a concert coming up and I thought it would nice to hear you practice, need I say more?" He had been listing off reasons with his head cocked and making a list on his fingers.

Vanya was blushing, she hadn't heard so many compliments since they had been children and hid from Reginald in her room while she played. He had hummed or sung with her, swaying around to the tune, a soft dance in the dark of night when things got too much. She realized that Klaus was loud to talk over the dead, that he was always moving to avoid touch, that he deflects with humor because laughter brings living attention. How could she ever say no to her sweet and hurt brother? She gives him a nod before going to get her violin. When she comes back she sees Klaus swaying and humming with Ben and the rest are gone.

"Where'd everyone go?" Vanya asks, both hurt and relieved that it's only the three of them.

"Told them that it would be easier to have a small family audience than all of us, too many at once. I apologize if you wanted all of them here," Klaus had turned to face her, a sheepish look in his eyes.

"No this makes it easier, sibling bonding with the two I _know_ like what I do. Better you two than even just Luther or Diego." She replies with a small smile, her brother was the kindest person in the house. She suddenly realizes that she wasn't the only one ignored, just in different ways. His smile lights up the room in ways she forgot it had and she smiles back before lifting her violin to start her playing. Klaus sat down, swaying in place but listening intently. Ben sat next to Klaus, smiling at Vanya as she played. 

They just sat and smiled as she played and, seeing as how two of her siblings liked her music, she put her everything into it. All of the love she felt for her two brothers pouring out of her violin better than she could ever say out loud. It feels peaceful and so _nice_, to finally be able to show how much she's gotten better to her family. At the end of her piece, she looked up to see her brothers smiling and clapping. She gave a little joking curtsey that they all laughed at before she set down her violin.

They laughed and talked about how things had been going. She and Ben held Klaus while he cried over his dead boyfriend and the life he had lost in 1968. They moved into the kitchen where they ate and he gushed over her and planed his outfit for the concert. Ben told her about some of the dumb shit Klaus had done when no one but he was there and Klaus fake pouted as they laughed. They hung out together and just tried to form a family out of the shards they had been handed. Mom made them some waffles and Klaus and Vanya watched with sad amusement as Ben ate them.

She looked down at her watch to see it was time for the second dose of her pills. As she pulled them out she saw Ben lean over to whisper something and Klaus's eyes go wide.

"Sis, can I see the bottle, please. I won't take any I just need you to trust me on this." He seemed serious and that was enough for her to give the bottle over to the brothers she trusted the most.

"What- this. What were these pills for again? It was anxiety right?"

"Yeah, Klaus what's wrong?"

"These aren't anxiety pills, take it from someone who's tried anything on the market, this isn't the stuff for anxiety. That would be a small dosage of anti-depressants and this is a way too high to be that and it also doesn't look like any of the pills normally given. Who'd you get it from?" Klaus asked, looking like he was mostly thinking out loud.

"Oh, it was Dad who gave me the meds. I've been taking them from him for years."

"Our dick of a father gave you such a high dosage of some kind of anti-depressants that it stopped you from feeling. Such a high dosage would've killed a baby so he must have started giving it to you when it became safe enough to give. That would be when we were kids which means that he was trying to stop you from feeling when you were a child." Klaus had started to pace while Ben watched with a small frown and you could tell his brain was working in overtime to solve this.

"Why?" Vanya asked.

"I don't know. The only thing I can think of that you would want to stop feeling for is if powers are attached to power but we've been told you have none. But if dad made you stop feeling before you could learn how to control them then you could become a bomb of power if you went off meds. I could see our dad finding a power he couldn't control and deciding to find a way to suppress it. If he did that then it would mean that-" At this point, Klaus stopped pacing to spin dramatically towards her and looked frazzled about this whole thing.

"I have powers" Vanya whispered in shock and anger.

"You have powers" Was said at the same time by Ben and Klaus.

"Ok, we have to wean you off meds. Again, going cold turkey could make your powers lash out and hurt you. So instead of two pills take one, after a few days we'll take it down to half and then down to none. If your powers are connected to emotions I'll teach you some breathing exercises to help you stay calm. Violin playing helps calm you so we use that, just make sure that you try to stay positive or non-threatening. If it's tied to emotions then your violin might become a conduit between the emotions and your release of them. So I'll teach you what I was taught and we'll figure out how to help you, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good. I just- I need a minute to come to terms with the fact that our father stopped me from having powers because we couldn't figure out how to control me."

"Ok, Ben and I are going to teach you some of what we know, our powers are more affected by emotions and I figure you want to learn this quietly. Am I right?" Oh, that was another reason she loved him. He knew enough about her to have a hunch about how she would react but never forced her to react that way. He asked before moving on which is something Allison still didn't do. 

"Yeah, start small and all that, right?" A shakey smile accompanies her word but Klaus just smiles and goes on without missing a beat.

"Right, so what you need to learn is that emotions are like water. Let it roll over you like a wave but let it roll off to, suppressing can cause damage and by letting them consume you it can cause the same problem. We have a limited amount of time to go over this because I need to shop for an outfit for your concert but here we go."

For the next hour or so, Vanya learned many breathing technics and ways to calm herself down. She learned ways to take a moment to process how she felt and let it pass. It would take time and practice but all of them thought she was less likely to get overwhelmed with Klaus's help.

After that, Klaus took her shopping. He tried on dresses and skirts along with many different types of suits until he settled on two different outfits. One was an almost-black-type-green velvet suit with a black silk shirt with no tie and the other was a light blue tule dress that had flowers growing up from the hem. He pouted.

"I don't know which to wear. The suit is more masculine which might be better for a formal concert, plus velvet, but I also love the design of the flowers. I mean, knowing our family, there will be bloodshed and the green will hide it better and a suit would be better for movement but I will wear heels no matter what. Which do you guys think, Benny-boy, Van-Van?" That was something she had missed, the nicknames were annoying but so _Klaus_. She shrugged, she didn't have an opinion. He looked good in both and she didn't care what he wore to the concert, so long as he showed up. 

"Well the suit makes you look like someone who has their life together but the dress doesn't work too well with the goatee. So you'd have to shave it for the dress or you look like you know what the hell you're doing in life." Ben said, he seemed to have done this before. He seems to be bored but Klaus knows he wouldn't be here if he didn't want to. Ben is the only one of the family who can get rid of Klaus. Even when Klaus was too high to know his name, he knew that Ben _chose_ to stay. He pretended that he couldn't leave but they both knew that was a lie, he could pass on if he so wished but he never did.

Klaus frowned at his two picks. The suit would be the better choice for where he would be and the suit made his eyes pop more. He nodded and put the dress away before turning back to his siblings. 

"Van-Van, want to get your nails done? I know this fabulous place a few blocks down that gives the _best_ mani-pedis I've ever seen. We could get matching colors and we could gossip like we used to." He squealed when he asked and how was Vanya supposed to say no to the only living brother who wanted to hang out. Also, he seemed so happy and that was a good change for him.

"Sure we can, what color where your thinking? My suit is going to be black with a black tie, what color will go well?" Vanya had never been great color combos but, when in the right headspace, Klaus was a fashion diva to rival Allison.

"Hmm, well I _will_ be doing your make up so I know how that'll look. I'd say blue, green or purple. All on the darker side of the color, blue will look good with your eyes but green will work better with my suit. I'm never opposed to having strange fashion and purple and green is an underrated combo. All of them will look nice on both of us so it's really up to you."

"I think I'd prefer purple or green"

"Beny-boy, what do you think, matching green or purple?" Klaus asked as he looked over at his brother.

"Well I think purple would look the best with the outfits and is just on your side of crazy so, purple is my vote." With that, the trio moved to the checkout, pausing long enough for Klaus to pick up a pair of wickedly high dark green heels that had an ankle strap, before the checked out and left. Luckily, Klaus had annoyed Allison into giving them enough money to get outfits by saying he'd stop stealing her skirts if she gave him money to buy some. He had picked out a few skirts that he liked and had gotten Vanya a few brighter colored shirts and sweaters. Klaus skipped as he dragged his sister into the nail salon down the street. 

An hour or two later, nails did, and lots of family bonding later they made their way home. Klaus brought her up to his room before telling her he'd be back. He returned with what looked like every blanket in the house before going to get more pillows and to get snacks.

"I thought a slumber party was in order and pillow forts are just so much fun to make. We can read, and play music. I could do your hair, oh, it'll be so much fun. You in?"

"If today has told me one thing, it's that I don't want to be alone tonight." So they started to build the fort. Most of the blankets stayed inside to create a nest and the rest created a canopy above them. Klaus brought his fairy lights inside the fort, along with his record player and records, and it became a little cave of comfort for them. They had pulled both mattresses from their rooms to have a real bed as a base for their blanket nest.

Ben read Harry Potter out loud to them and all three of them jammed to Klaus's records before they settled down to sleep. Vanya curled around her brother as they drifted off, Ben no longer corporeal, kept watch over his siblings. They slept well enough, Klaus had a nightmare that the physical contact chased away before he woke up and Vanya felt less alone then she had in her entire life. Even Lenard hadn't made her feel this way, he was a stranger with a few kind words, this was her brothers showing her the love they held for her that they hadn't known how to say until now. This was a family trying to fix mistakes that had been made and trying to get better. 

It was light out when they both woke up, it was around ten-ish so they groggily made their way down to the kitchen. Mom made them waffles and Vanya finally understood why Klaus would put his plate between him and empty air. They chatted about anything they could think of. Klaus told her about the few strays that he would find and give food before they ran off and she told him about how giving lessons was tiering and loud but nice. 

At some point, the others are drawn to the noise coming from the kitchen. The sight that they find is one they could have never thought. Klaus was floating in lotus pose as doing a poor imitation of a ghost while Vanya laughed until she cried and Ben rolled his eyes but was laughing too. It was domestic and soft in a way they had never seen anyone in the family act. Allison smiled, her marriage had been similar but not quite as carefree, and Diego was reminded of the first few weeks with Patch. Five had seen a few scenes like this when they were younger but it was nice to see Vanya smile. They didn't seem to notice that the rest of the family was in the doorway, well, Vanya didn't notice. Klaus just floated over to the coffee pot, poured a cup and slid it into Five's hand. Vanya still didn't seem to register this, still bent over laughing and Five just sent a nod Klaus's way as he picked up the coffee and sipped it. Damn, Klaus knew how to make good coffee.

Vanya finally stopped laughing long enough to register her siblings being in the doorway, her smile slipped off her face like water down a drain. It hurt to realize that Klaus and Ben were the only ones she trusted enough to show emotions but then, the rest hadn't proven that trust, Klaus and Ben had. Five was probably the next that would be added to the list, he had been kind to her as kids but he had left so she didn't know when that hurt would fade. The rest were a dice throw, Allison seemed to think Vanya couldn't live without her, even though she had been doing just fine for years, Deigo was a little too cold and still mad at her for the book thing and Luther seemed to forget she existed, and after what she had learned about One from her brothers, his window to be her brother in anything other than name was rapidly closing.

Klaus smiled at the group but it was little tight and sharp, though that might just be sober Klaus.

"Good timing, breakfast was just served, it's still warm," Klaus said as he moved to get another waffle. He danced back over before falling into his seat with a comically large flop and sigh that got Vanya to snort into her hand. His smile brightened and he winked in her direction. Ben just rolled his eyes and sipped some ghost tea to hide his smile. The others shuffled nervously in the doorway, well Five didn't, he just look uninterested. "Come on, I don't bite my siblings. That insets can be saved for Luther, thank you very much."

Five couldn't hold back his sharp laugh, he remembered Allison and Luther leaving at odd times to hang out and always seemed to think that life was a Disney film and this was the first thirty minutes of their movie. Luther looked outraged but couldn't argue and Allison seemed very self-conscious. Deigo seemed torn between looking disgusted and laughing. Five walked over to sit next to Vanya while sending a quiet 'thank you' to Klaus, who only raised his cup of coffee in understanding. Klaus turned to chat with Ben and Vanya, Five would sometimes comment but he mostly just sipped his coffee. After a highly awkward breakfast, Klaus slipped up into a standing position and reached out for Vanya to take his hand.

"We'll be hitting all the places Ben has wanted to go for the past few years, if you need us we'll probably be at the movies or a library." Vanya looked a little lost but she accepted his hand as they moved out of the room. Ben just whooped as he floated behind Klaus.

Klaus snuck into Reggie's office to steal some money he knew was there before heading back downstairs and out the door. Vanya trailed after Klaus as he walked over to the library near the house. Ben started to silently freak out before heading off to look through the books, Klaus had tried to go to places for Ben but it was still a second-hand experience when you couldn't touch anything. They spent a few hours there, mostly just Vanya and Klaus watching as Ben ran his fingers over book spines or picked one up to read. Ben seemed to get bored of this at some point as he came back to the table they had claimed and told Klaus he was ready for the next on the list. Klaus just grinned and stood up.

"The next stop is this art museum downtown that showcases a lot of gore-style art, I haven't had the money for tickets 'till now so," Klaus grabbed Vanya's hand as he gently pulled her towards the bus stop. It seemed more like a way to share how excited he was than a possessive or mean grip so Vanya didn't protest. Klaus looked positively giddy, he had loved his brother's company but he knew that Ben felt disconnected with the world in a way Klaus would never understand. Ben seemed just as excited and both of them were almost skipping down the street.

They got to the museum and roamed around for hours, looking and talking about the pieces. Klaus talked about a few of the pieces and how the dead resembled them or would relay what a dead artist had said about the work. Ben talked about how some of the art reminded him of the Horror or its victims and Vanya listened with a sad smile. 

The rest of the week went similarly, the three of them sleeping in one room, a day out on the town and falling asleep in the fort they had made. Though they always made time to explore Vanya's powers and retrain Klaus's. Today was no different, it was the day before her concert and she was nervous, Vanya had been bumped up to the first chair and she was feeling very overwhelmed with it all.

"Breath Van-Van, remember what I told you, let yourself feel, process the feeling and let it pass. Here, try and match my breathing, alright?" Klaus moved Vanya's hand to his chest as he took deep breaths, unconsciously she fell into the same rhythm of breathing as she slowly calmed down.

"There we go, darlin'. Just let it pass, I know this is a lot in a week, I'm honestly surprised this didn't happen sooner. You are doing so well, sweetie. There we go, just let the emotion roll off of you." Klaus talked, grounding her to the present as things in the training room stopped shaking. She let herself lean into him as she came down from the panic attack. It had been hard the first few days, having to learn how to deal with emotions but at this point, she felt like she was less emotionally constipated than half of her siblings. It was a low bar when you realized she was competing with Luther 'Dad sent me to the moon', Deigo 'I'm Batman' and Five 'I haven't had human interaction since I was thirteen' but it still felt like an accomplishment. Klaus and Ben were both proud and cheering her on. She was almost down to no pills and while it had become harder to deal with emotions she also felt lighter than she remembered ever feeling, like a pair of handcuffs had finally been taken off. Vanya doesn't know what she would do if she didn't have Klaus and his breathing exercises with her.

She leaned on her brother for a little while longer while he held her and rubbed her back, eventually he pulled back enough to see her face.

"There we go, that's better. I know this must be a lot, I can't say I understand, I can kind of get it but not to the same degree. I am proud of you, you have come so far, just a few days ago you made a vase explode because you were mad at a movie plot twist. Today the training room only shivered. Chin up, you _are_ getting more in control. It may not always feel like it, but you are learning how to control your powers well. You are in control, not your powers, and that is what is important. Now, why don't we go watch the Bachelorette to make fun of the guys, hm?"

Klaus, Vanya, and Ben had found a new love for trashy reality TV. Vanya nodded and Klaus helped Vanya get to her feet and move to his room, Klaus had somehow gotten a TV in there, he didn't know how either so don't ask him, and they had been watching movies and TV as a way to unwind from life while in a cuddle pile. 

After a few hours of terrible reality TV, they started to train Klaus. This had become routine, mess around in the morning, train Vanya after lunch, take a break for bad TV or a movie, and train Klaus. Ben seemed a little lost on how to help, his powers were more physical than Klaus or Vanya's. He could help with the more physical of Vanya's where Klaus didn't know what to do and he knew Klaus better than Vanya, knowing how to motivate him better.

Today was a very big day, Klaus felt he finally had enough control over his powers to summon Dave. They had mostly been working with Ben or other nice ghosts around the house, Sophie was happy to help, and he felt he finally had enough control on his powers and emotions to try to get his dead boyfriend back.

Klaus sat down on the floor with his palms up to show his ouija board tattoos better. He breathed in and out, in and out. Both Ben and Dave had shown him ways to calm his mind without drugs and right know it was saving his ass. He slowly started to float a few inches off the ground as he turned all his attention to his body and the power in it. Said power seemed to move just like his graceful movements around the house, a web of ever moving power. It flowed like the blood of some of the ghosts he saw, moving and dripping but never leaving. In the past few days, Klaus had realized that he had some sort of self-formed block on his powers, childhood trauma forcing his body to stop itself. He had been trying to ease that block down, a slow whittle at the door to a new well of power that shifted like dead trees in the wind. He focused on trying to break apart the last little bit of it, knowing that it was keeping him from Dave. He may be a beckon to the dead but he had a limited radius that he was trying to expand.

Ben and Vanya watched as Klaus started to rise higher in the air, stopping a few feet off the ground, and as his body started to glow. Blue misty power causing in his veins to stand out harshly to his pale skin, the air seemed to lose some warmth and Klaus looked more like the dead he saw than the living in the room. His hair floated and moved to a wind that howled with the echo of what Klaus heard. 

Klaus's eyes snapped open when he felt the dam break, a silent scream leaving his lips at the influx of power. The wind picked up, his hair whipping to and fro and his dog tags clanging like a funeral bell tolls, his eyes glowed the same blue as his veins, and his skin lost all semblance of living color. He stretched out his 'hello' hand and smiled, a sharp and crooked thing, as it was grabbed and a human shape started to appear. It started with a blue outline that traveled up the hand to the rest of the body, color starting to fill in. It took a few minutes but soon enough Dave was standing there, looking the same as he had died except there was no wound. Klaus refused to have his boyfriend bleed on him every time they kissed and so his powers fixed him up the same way they had done for Ben.

The wind died down and Klaus unfolded from his lotus position to touch his feet to the ground. The glow dissipated to only making Klaus's veins stand out more than what could be considered healthy and his skin started to gain what little color he had while the room slowly started to warm up.

Vanya looked startled but Ben just looked proud. It was then that Ben realized he looked like more than just an outline, as Dave had gained color, so had Ben, becoming more solid. Anyone would think both Ben and Dave were alive if not for the fact that they were missing heartbeats. Klaus whooped before jumping into Dave's arms. Dave laughed but picked him up and spun him around before kissing him.

"Get a room, you two," Was Ben's helpful answer, there was no malice or heat, a fact propelled by the smile that threatened to split Ben's face in two. Both Klaus and Dave just laughed when they had split apart enough to do so. Dave gave Klaus one last twirl before he set Klaus down again, the soundtrack of Klaus's slightly unhinged giggling following the move. Vanya just smiled, Klaus hadn't been this happy in decades. He had been happier this week than she had seen him since they were kids, but there had been an underlying sadness, a melancholy for the person he had lost.

"Klaus, where'd you learn to do _that_?" Ben asked, the whole situation settling in. The statement was accompanied by a hand gesture to where Klaus had been floating earlier. Klaus laughed.

"When I was younger my powers scared me so much I forced a block on them, I've been breaking it down all week. Think of my powers like a wifi signal, I draw ghosts from all around into me, I shrunk the range my power I had. A leash of sorts to minimize how many ghosts I could see. I just expanded the range back to where it should be. Meaning, the whole globe, and not just North America, roughly." Klaus said, struggling on a way to describe it better than 'I boosted my ghost-dar'. Ben would've laughed but everyone else didn't quite understand his riddle-like jokes that his mind thought in. 

"Well you did well, the power boost got you a boyfriend and you seem to have a better grip on your powers," Vanya said.

"Yeah, the power boost came with some instinctive knowledge but it'll still be a battle. Who's up for a movie marathon. I need to show Dave like, all the best movies," This earned several cheers from the party of four who made their way upstairs. One there, they binge-watched lots of the family favorites. Steel Magnolias caused tears and Drop Dead Gorgeous made them all laugh. After a few more movies Klaus checked the clock.

"I hate to be the one who brings this party to an end, but Van-Van needs her sleep for her big day and I used up a lot of energy sorting souls. Bedtime?" The others grumbled but moved so that Dave and Klaus were curled around each other, Vanya was close enough to touch but not ruin the couples moment and Ben sat back to read. Ghosts didn't need to sleep and with his newfound solidity, Ben was wasting no time in picking up any mildly interesting book to read. Ben made sure that one of his legs were touching each of his siblings, needing the contact just as much as they did. Klaus reached over to hold Vanya's hand as he drifted to sleep, content in his boyfriend's arms with his favorite siblings nearby. 

The next morning, Klaus woke to soft kisses on his neck, nothing sexual, just a reminder that the person behind him was as close to alive as was possible. He smiled lazily before rolling over. 

"Morning, handsome," Klaus said, a teasing smile on his lips. Dave chuckled before giving him a soft peck.

"Mornin', darlin'. How are you feeling?" While Dave wasn't from the south himself, spending months in a tent with a southern man had given way to him cutting off the end 'g' on words when he was tired. He also knew the sleepy slur made Klaus melt so if he did it somewhat on purpose, no one had to know. Klaus hummed and smiled.

"I'm good, better now that you're here." Dave smiled down at him before giving him one more soft kiss.

"Come on, Vanya got up a little while ago. She and Ben went to make coffee,"

"Coffee, here I come," Klaus then softly moved Dave so he could get up. He flounced over to his closet to get dressed. He would have to change later so nothing to fancy. He settled on a soft lavender skirt he had been meaning to wear with a sunflower yellow sweater. He twirled in the mirror before grabbing Dave's hand and pulling him downstairs. 

"Hiya, family. I heard there would be coffee," Klaus said as he skipped into the room. Vanya and Ben laughed at his anticks before Ben slid a cup of coffee over.

"Knew you would want one," Is all Ben said. Klaus nodded happily to him as he sipped on the coffee. Klaus flopped on to the table, angled to face Vanya. He started telling her about the time he took down a drug ring on accident. "Well you see, the ghosts wouldn't leave me alone and then I said something or another before running down this hallway and then someone had called the cops or something. The next thing I knew, they were all behind bars. It was partly a shame, they had some of the cleanest heroin in the city," He told her some other stories from the streets, watching as Vanya cracked up at most. Ben would interject to clear up a story every once in a while, but he mostly just sat back and watched Klaus distract Vanya from her growing nerves.

The rest of the family was greeted by the sight of Vanya, Ben and Dave laughing as Klaus told them the story of 'that one time I stole from a kingpin and got away with it' with exaggerated arm motions.

"I'm sorry, you stole _a solid gold statue_ from one of the biggest kingpins in town and _he didn't even notice_?" Vanya wheezed.

"Well, by the time he noticed that anything was gone, I was long gone. The best part is that I had been slowly stealing a lot of his trinkets and he only noticed when his gold statue of poppy flowers went missing. I had already drained him of thousands of dollars. I mean, nobody ever notices if that one little statue of a bike goes missing. I stole dad's collection of thimbles and he never noticed." Klaus's new declaration sent Vanya into another round of howling laughter.

"Klaus, why is there some guy in our kitchen?" Luther asked in his 'I'm number one, so you had better listen to me' voice.

"Oh, this is Dave. He's my boyfriend from Vietnam. Dave this is Allison, Luther, Five and Deigo. The rest of our _esteemed_ _father's _children that he paid for and trained for the end of the world, which is is today!" Klaus said with fake cheer. Dave just hid a smile in Klaus's shoulder before moving to hold out his hand.

"It's nice to meet the rest of the family, I've heard a lot about you," Dave said, flashing a charming smile at everyone but Luther. Luther just got a tight smile before he moved back to curl his arms around Klaus.

"Didn't you say he died?" Deigo asked, somewhat cold but mostly just curious. Five also looked like Dave was a puzzle to figure out.

"He did, thanks for bringing that up. Power bost, I can make ghosts almost entirely alive again. He doesn't have a heartbeat but he's no longer dripping blood from his chest so I'll take it," Klaus chirped as he burrowed into Dave's wider frame. Dave just wrapped his arms tighter around Klaus. Ben fake gagged in a corner, causing Klaus and Vanya to giggle before Klaus flipped him off. The rest of the family seemed confused at this new dynamic, Five less so.

He could tell that Klaus had helped where the rest had given up, caring for Vanya in a way no one ever had. Openly showing affection and trying to make her laugh, Ben fit in seamlessly as he had always been there for Klaus. He was a quiet pole of support for their sister and Dave was Klaus's boyfriend, a little awkward to be introduced but Vanya had heard stories, and so had Dave, so they fell into a friendship easily. Five would love to join in on the family bonding, he remembered a time when he was that close to Vanya, Klaus, and Ben, but he was trying to save his family from the End of Times. It would kill him to have to bury those two again.

Five nodded his head and waved before jumping to get to the coffee.

"If the world doesn't end today, I want to watch a movie with you guys. I haven't seen a movie in 45 years so you'll have to choose what's best." Five said. Klaus clapped before gasping and turning to Ben and lightly slapping him.

"We can do a Harry Potter movie marathon!" Klaus exclaimed, hands flapping wildly. Ben just looked happy that Klaus could hit him in the first place. Vanya laughed but looked happy to agree and Five was just excited to be welcomed back into the group. He did have some leeway in the fact that he wasn't here to treat them badly and hadn't meant to get stuck in the future.

The rest had let one another down too often to be let in so easily. Luther refused to listen to anyone that wasn't Father, Deigo was too busy trying to one-up One to take care of the family and Allison had left and never turned back, plus there was the added fear that she would just rumor you and not just talk. Even when Klaus had been on the streets, he had made a point to keep up with his family's lives. He would leave a note taped to Vanya's door to congratulate her on her playing, would tell Deigo 'hi' when he saw him while Deigo pretended to be Batman, would sneak into every movie Allison was in and would leave her a voicemail to tell her what he thought of the movie, and he would leave Pogo messages to give to Luther. Vanya had taken some amount of mercy on Klaus in her book, while she said many things she regrets, she had talked about how even drugged up, he had always been there to try to lighten the mood in the room.

Klaus clapped again before looking at the clock. It was 11:24 A.M.

"Oh, time to go darling. I have a hairstyle in mind for tonight that'll take _forever _to finish so we should start getting ready," Klaus said as he hopped off the table and started to drag Vanya to his, their, room. Dave and Ben both chuckled before following.

The hair thing had been a part lie and part truth. Klaus was planning to do her hair and makeup and that would take a while, but it would not take all afternoon and into the early night. Klaus, however, knew that being with his siblings would only cause more stress on Vanya, especially if one of them insulated Klaus, bond to happen, or Luther and Deigo fought, inevitable. So he was determined to keep her away from everyone until tomorrow, at least. He explained this to his sweet sister, who agreed and they finished binge-watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians. They were assigning a Kardashian/Jenner to a Hargreeves and doing the pitch for Hanging Out With The Hargreeves all afternoon. Laughing all the while. Ben would put in his idea every once in a while but mostly just read in on Klaus's mattress. Dave was content to just hold Klaus as they watched. 

Around 4:30 P.M., Klaus moved to start doing Vanya's hair. He pulled it all to the back before starting, he had an old Viking lady telling him how to part the hair and where to cross over a portion. He even sewed the hair, when your main teachers are dead you learn how to use the old technics for the hairstyle. In the end, it was a deceptively simple-looking braid down Vanya's back with a few loose strands that Klaus curled to frame her face. He then started on her makeup. For this, he did keep simple, some eyeliner and mascara to make her eyes pop, a light blush and highlight job and a tinted lipgloss. He knew his sister well enough that she didn't want anything heavy and he thought this would let her playing shine even better.

She smiled and hugged him when she saw the finished look, it was better than anything she had done before and she was going to show it off with pride. She changed into her suit while Klaus did his makeup, mascara, and eyeliner with a deep purple lip. He slipped his suit on before offering her his arm. She giggled but let herself be lead downstairs by her brother.

They entered the kitchen to see that Mom had prepared dinner and the rest of the family was there.

"Klaus, Vanya, I was just about to call you down for dinner. You both look wonderful, dears," Grace said as she finished setting the table.

"Thanks, mom," Klaus said as he twirled over and kissed her on the cheek before sitting down to eat.

"So, where are you two off to?" Allison asked.

"My concert is tonight, I thought I told you. I made first chair." Vanya said, seeming both angry and sad yet resigned. 

"I've been wanting to watch Vanya play, legally that is. I've snuck into many concerts but there is a difference when you have a seat," Klaus said wistfully. Vanya and Ben snorted in tandem.

"I got enough tickets for all of you but I don't expect anyone else to want to come,"

"I'll come, the apocalypse can wait an hour or two," Five said, he had done everything he could to stop it, with no new leads it was kind of pointless to keep shoving his family away. Besides, if he hadn't convinced himself, the smile Vanya sent him sealed his decision.

"I'd love to come, Vanya," Allison said.

"Oh, Five, I might have a suit that fits you, or I can tailor one of Dad's old ones to fit you. Please let me tear apart one of the old man's suits," Klaus said with hands clapped together. It would be a rushed job, but he already had Five's measurements and with Mom's help they could get it done in time. Five sent Klaus a thankful smile before jumping to pick out one of Dad's suits.

Neither Deigo or Luther wanted to go, unsurprising, and this just made sure that they could keep Ben and Dave corporal for the performance. Klaus wolfed down his food before calling Mom to help him tailor Five's suit. He had chosen a dark blue suit with a black tie. Klaus nodded and started to work on cutting fabric and resewing it to fit. He worked on the shirt and jacket while Mom worked on the pants. It took some time but they had it done in an hour and a half.

"Here, try this on," Klaus said proudly. It fit, of course. Dad had kept detailed records of their measurements growing up and Five was in his thirteen-year-old body. Grace had the measurements saved in her data banks and therefore it went by even quicker, no need to search Reggie's things for the information. 

Five put on the suit happily, he hated the uniform just as much as the rest of the family, so to be out of it was a welcome feeling. He thanked Klaus and his mother before moving to get some coffee. It was time for everyone to pile into Allison's car to get to the theater. Klaus made Ben and Dave fade from view for the ride to have more room but they showed up as soon as everyone was out of the car.

"I have to leave to get ready, I'll see you guy's on stage," Vanya said as she left for the back room. Klaus waved and wished her luck before they found their seats.

If you would please, imagine a record scratch here. Now, it should be noted that Klaus has already stoped the apocalypse but both a little girl on a bike and Five have kept the Handler too busy to look far enough to _see_ this new development. Thus, while Vanya poses no threat, there are still lots of agents being set up to storm the theater to protect Vanya from her siblings. Now, back to the story.

The small family took their seats as others started to trickle in. Eventually, everyone was there and the orchestra was ready to play. It was a beautiful piece but Klaus knew something was wrong. Ghosts were starting to show up. He made a small gesture to one to tell him what was happening.

"They are coming, they come to hurt you and yours, they killed me. They killed me," Was all the ghost would tell him without prompting but it was enough. Vanya had just stood up to start her solo and was a few bars into the magnificent piece when the doors opened. Gunmen came streaming in and the audience ran. Ben and Dave flickered out as Klaus ducked a shot.

"Ben, get me a gun," Klaus whispered, Ben nodded and rushed to one of the men. He was on the outskirts of the pack, easy to miss. Ben became physical enough to grab the gun and choke the guy out before he returned to his brother's side. Klaus took it with a nod before he stood up and loaded it.

He could hear the sound of his family screaming at him to duck but it just blended with the wailing of ghosts. He breathed in and out, closing his eyes before they snapped open and glowed a faint blue. Suddenly gunmen were going down fast, dead before they hit the floor with the only sound being guns firing with a soundtrack of violin playing. Vanya had closed her eyes and either hadn't realized that there were gunmen or trusted Klaus to take care of it.

Klaus mowed down the threat to his family, hands glowing a faint blue and suddenly the 173rd was there firing off to help the skinny boy they had taken in. Klaus's gun ran out of rounds and he tossed it aside, deciding to launch himself at the closest person. A shout came from Allison as she watched her brother leap at one of the men. Klaus just smiled a too sharp smile and tore the man's eye out. The man cried out and went down. Klaus made sure to stab him with his heel as he danced over the man, twirling and launching himself to the other men. He had learned how to fight dirty before he learned to fight fair and he used everything at his disposal. Biting and scratching and clawing his way through the ranks of men. Occasionally, he would pick up a gun and use that until it ran out of rounds and go back to his bare and bloody hands. Klaus was distantly aware of Five fighting along with the 173rd and Ben but he was mostly focused on the blood rushing in his veins as he brought down every man near him in the most painful ways he knew. The shrieks and wails of his victims only spurred him on in his quest to keep his family safe. Manic laughter bubbled from his chest as he danced around and clawed at the men the same way their victims wanted to do.

Blood streamed down his body but he paid it no mind. The men had seemed to realize he was a bigger threat than Five. Five could teleport but he was a mostly painless killer. Klaus had become the conduit for the ghost's anger. Thousands of them wanted the revenge that Klaus was giving and the screamed for more blood. He didn't see a reason not to so he did as asked. Lunging at the gunmen and scraping and ripping and kicking where it would hurt before he stole his gun. He mowed down as many as he could before taking a running start to the next man who tried to getaway. The others had either been killed or had realized that if they didn't leave there was no going on the next assignment and had fled. Klaus cackled at the man's terror, it fueled the ghosts who fueled him and he let the blue glow encompass the man's victims. He nodded at the ghosts who took no time to start clawing at the man who had taken there lives. Klaus just looked to see if there were any more gunmen. The only ones left were injured to the point of immobilization and were no longer a threat, those still alive had fled long ago.

A light tap on the shoulder told him that the ghosts were done and he let the blue leave his fists and eyes. Only Dave and Ben remained to the sight of his family. He looked down at his suit and sighed at the congealing blood.

"Well, that won't come out, a shame too. I liked this suit," Klaus whined, his smile with a few too many teeth still on his face.

"Not to be 'that guy' but what the fuck Klaus, where'd you learn to do that?" Five asked. Vanya had stopped playing and was Klaus a concerned once over, he gave her a bloody thumbs up and heard Allison reach in a corner, while she was used to a certain level of blood and gore, it had been years since she had seen it and it was overwhelming.

Klaus smiled through the blood drying on his face and in his hair.

"I had to learn to fight dirty early, a ghost taught me most but daddy dearest always thought I would be best at scrappy fighting. It was my frame, I think, and my quick movements that made him want to teach me how to gouge a man's eye out before he taught me to punch. Then on the streets, it was useful to know how to hit a pressure point or weak spot and it was even more useful in the war," Klaus said with a shrug. Ben looked proud, Allison looked ready to hurl again, Vanya just looked concerned and Five looked like he wanted to dissect Klaus's brain.

"Well, we should get home. Vanya, from what I could hear, you sounded quite nice," Five said before leading the way back to the car. Allison looked mildly upset that they were getting blood on her car seats but didn't have enough energy to argue. They got home quickly and Vanya sent Klaus to Mom quickly.

"I'm fine, Van-Van, but I'll check for you." Klaus was fine, a scratch or two and some bad bruising but nothing major, he hadn't given anyone the time to hurt him before taking them down. His clothing was beyond help, sadly. He went upstairs to wash off before changing into some loose sweatpants and an old, oversized band tee. He went back downstairs to find everyone in the living room. He plopped down into Dave's side and next to Ben.

"So Klaus just killed a bunch of gunmen without blinking," Deigo said, highly impressed but also terrified. Klaus gave a gentle hum before passing out on his boyfriend. Dave just sighed before picking him up and carrying him into the fort. Everyone else soon followed suit, everyone hoping for a good nights sleep.

* * *

The Handler looked down, all her gunmen had been killed or had fled, the apocalypse hadn't happened and she still didn't know how that had happened.

A little girl on a bike laughed, she like she would let her creations go out so easily. There had to be a balance, plus chaos was so much _fun_ to cause.


End file.
